Jul 01 2007
What is heroism?
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Photo: Bobby Mueller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (and a true hero), left, argues with a protester as he disrupts a ‘John Kerry Lied’ rally put on by Vietnam Vets for the Truth, at Upper Senate Park, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2004, in Washington.
By Gene W. DeVaux
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Activist and columnist
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7/1/07
A Google alert came in this morning. It was related to my KC Indymedia submission from December of 2004 (which follows):
People routinely refer to our troops in Iraq as heroes. What is heroism in an unjust war?
Charley Gibson of Good Morning America, as so many news people do, referred to our troops in Iraq as heroes. I flinch when I hear that. Can we give blanket praise to all who are fighting in this unjust war? Some have probably performed heroic deeds. Others have committed crimes against the Iraqi people, and have done it with the blessing of the U.S. government.
The following letter was sent to Good Morning America today, Wednesday, December 15, 2004:
”Charley, what is a hero? Is an armed robber a hero because he carries a gun into a dangerous situation? Were the Columbine killers heroes? They must have known that they would be shot doing what they were going to do.
”Our troops in Iraq may be heroes when they perform heroic deeds such as protecting their fellow soldiers, at the risk of their own lives. But, Charley, you can’t paint this as a heroic war. This is a war of aggression in which tens of thousands of Iraqis have died. It is an unjust war driven by the lies of the Bush administration that lied to us about weapons of mass destruction, ties to Al Qaeda, ties to 9/11, yellow cake, aluminum tubes, etc. They even lied to us about the mass graves.
Charley, are you aware that many of the mass graves were filled by U.S. troops driving bull dozers during the first Gulf war as they buried Iraqi troops that were slaughtered “In the Kill Box.” By the way, you need to see that documentary. It shows how Iraqis were slaughtered in the desert of Iraq. The intention of our generals was to totally kill 15,000 troops in each of dozens of kill boxes, areas on a map of Iraq that were estimated to have 15,000 Iraqi troops. There was no plan to take prisoners; Charley, it was intentional slaughter by the first Bush administration.”
So, getting back to my question; what is a hero? What is heroism? The heroes of the Vietnam War were the ones who fled to Canada, an action that I didn’t approve of at the time. I now realize that they were right and the troops who went to Vietnam were victims, not heroes of a government that started an unjustified war against an Asian country that was no threat to us. Now our “heroes” are killing thousands of innocent men, women and children in another unjust war. Some of our heroes will be prosecuted for deliberately killing civilians and wounded Iraqis. Some will kill and get away with it because no one will tell about what they have done.
Many American troops are committing suicide in Iraq. We don’t get statistics on that. Have you wondered why? Could it be because of things they have seen and done, things that were opposed to their basic moral values? Many are coming home with mental disorders that will haunt and cripple them for the rest of their lives. They may have killed innocent civilians and soldiers who really didn’t have to die, and wouldn’t have died if the Bush administration had not started this unjust war, based on lies and on the fear of another 9/11 attack.
Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11 but the American people were sold the idea that he had. The news media did a poor job of informing the public of the truth. A lot of that blame belongs to Good Morning America, a program that played into the hands of the Bush administration. Dianne has been selling this war ever since before it started. I got so angry at her that I refused to watch the show for a very long time. She did seem to “get it” when she interviewed George W. Bush about WMDs. When Bush changed his story to “plans to produce WMD, and he couldn’t see a difference, I thought the light of insight finally was turned on in her pretty blond head. Now I don’t think so. There must be something in that blond rinse that turns off the thought processes.
Is ABC, and are the other networks so intimidated by this administration that it and they fear presenting the truth to the American people? Don’t you realize that if you would present the facts in the face of administration threats, you and the network would be real heroes? Ones who would be brave enough to stand up to the Bush administration and the FCC and say, “Look, we are in the news business, not the propaganda business, and we are going to do our jobs. That would be real heroism.
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I read all of the comments that readers had made, and would like to thank those who wrote to comment. The last writer to comment was a fellow who was critical of my observations:
In his mind, any soldier who serves in the military and is sent to fight in a foreign land is a hero.
He was of the opinion that those of us who disagree with him, should move out of the U.S. into some third world country that is less free than the United States. Well, of course, I disagree with him that serving in a war, no matter whether that war is a justified conflict or not, makes a person a hero.
Are there heroes who are or who have fought in Iraq? No doubt there are. There are those who have sacrificed their lives and limbs for their comrades in arms. There are those who have risked their own lives for others in this conflict. There are those who have exposed the abuses of Abu Ghraib. There are those who exposed their comrades who have committed terrible crimes against the Iraqi people. There are those who have refused to go to Iraq and have faced military courts martial. There have been returning troops who have attended peace demonstrations and exposed themselves to military sanctions. All of these are truly heroes. But, do we consider those who go, perhaps against their will, to fight in this unjust war to be heroes? Do we consider those who have lost their lives, suffered brain damage, and lost limbs to roadside bombs to be heroes? No, they are victims of the lies told by the Bush administration in order to justify this stupid war.
According to my critic, fighting for your country, regardless of the cause, is heroic. No doubt, the Iraqi soldiers who sacrificed their lives to resist our invasion were heroes. In his mind, the German soldiers who fought in WWII were heroes. According to him, the Roman soldiers who fought wars of conquest were heroes (even though they may been forced to fight in the Roman Legions).
Heroism is a term to describe those who, by their actions, should be honored for doing extraordinary things for their country; it should not be used as a tool for propaganda. The government used the term “hero” to describe Jessica Lynch. She was heroic in the sense that she was courageous enough to tell the truth about her experience in Iraq, but not in the sense that the Bush administration wanted us to believe. Pat Tillman was made out a “hero” when he died in Afghanistan. Tillman died from “friendly fire.” He was killed by American soldiers. Was he really a hero? In his case, I would say he was. Not because he died in combat, but because he enlisted after 9/11 to fight against those who he believed had attacked our country. Tillman left pro-football and joined the army, something he did not have to do. I have little doubt that Tillman was a true patriot with good motivations, just as Jessica Lynch was a patriot who wanted the American people to know the truth. These are heroes, and there are no doubt many like them, but just by wearing a uniform and obeying orders does make anyone a hero. Heroes perform heroic acts above and beyond the call of duty.
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Good article. I served in this Iraq war when it began and fortunately my enlistment was up before the DoD began stop-lossing my brothers and sisters wholesale. Having seen the best and worst of who serves in our armed forces, I can say with sincerity that there indeed are heroes among the military, moreso than there are among most professions. However, there are also villains, thugs, and criminals of the worst type. The irony is that sometimes those people are one and the same. The dividing line between one and the other can be as fine as a matter of a few minutes, when one situation turns into something entirely different from its beginning.
One bit of advice I have though concerns the tendency of the civilian to criticize the service member. Until you have walked in those boots, you cannot possibly comprehend what you’re talking about. Until you’ve seen the five year old child being used as a human bomb, having been strapped up to blow by his own parents (for all anyone knows) and told his only way into Paradise is to kill you or your buddy or just any American at all, or until you’ve had the experience of handing out food to people who thank you profusely and smile to your face only to turn up the very next day firing a weapon at you to take your life, you should not be so quick to judge when an ‘innocent family’ is ‘murdered’ in its home.
I’m not for one instant suggesting that atrocities do not take place. Clearly they do. It happens in every war. But let the military investigate and prosecute it. Trust me, the DoD is not in the habit of covering up the mistakes of its people. Having been there myself, I can soundly assure you that the arbiter of a court martial will be all too happy to strip an offender of his or her rank and throw them in the brig with a felony conviction if they reach a guilty verdict. Rarely is there a ‘good old boy’ network when it comes to such things.
In my mind there is no question that all soldiers have been heroes, even those that have refused to go.
Most had no choice but to go and fight a war based on lies.
When a soldier answers his country’s call he or she is a hero. They are blameless when the leaders of their countries send them off for no good reason. The only thing they are guilty of is trusting their leaders.
There are more heroes opposing this war, than fighting it.
NO, only in the USA can such a thing be said. Even though your official policy is supposed to allow Soldiers free choice to refuse illegal orders. Anywhere else we accept fully that Soldiers are responsible for their own actions.
Australia counts bodies and we mourn anyone our soldiers kill in an unjust and illegal and brutal war of pillage and rapine.
My last comment was to Pooche by the way. Sorry not to be more specific.
Gee, and I thought I was the only one who felt as you do about the word “hero” and heroism in general.
It gives me a feeling of disgust every time I hear those words used to describe everyone from the local fireman to the average GI serving in Iraq. It detracts from those who actually deserve that description.
Words cease to have meaning when they are used in such a loose manner.
Keep pounding it out. You’ve got my support.
I sat through the moronic movie: ‘Idiocracy’. I was left feeling somewhat heroic for having finished it. I felt disgusted, violated in a way. Yet I still cannot escape the notion that, were there no God in heaven…..such an eventuality or one like it, seems nearly inevitable. It has been said that the true hero of many a contest, is he who refuses to participate. The mainstream media runs public service announcements….one of them having featured a young boy accosted by a drug dealer, the boy refuses the miscreant in heroic fashion. The ‘mob mentality’ is predicated on safety of numbers…..fear based decision making. What’s the old saying…..something to the effect: “They who will not stand for something, can usually be counted upon to fall for anything.”
History, the short measure of our shared reality as viewed by mortal mankind, that is, will reveal all heroes and all cowards.
And what a trading of places that must surely be!
God bless,
TS
Mr. Garner, how can you say the DoD has no ‘old boy network’ regarding atrocities when confronted with Mai Lai, Abu Ghraib and Haditha? What about the homosexual rape used as an ‘interrogation technique’ in places like Camp Bucca, Gitmo and Bagram air base? Why were these covered up if the DoD was ‘taking care of it?’
Also, who are you to tell me that I have no right to criticize how my tax dollars are spent on the military? MY taxes are paying for your uniforms, meals, housing, weapons, ammunition and hardware. If it wasn’t for people like me, people like you would be out of a job. And speaking of jobs, didn’t you take an oath to defend the U.S. constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic? So how exactly is imposing martial law on a nation that didn’t attack the U.S. in ANY WAY supportive of that oath?
You really are a fucking idiot!
I thought that I was doing the right thing when I was ordered to Vietnam. I had been in the Navy for four years at the time and still had two years left. I knew my government would’n't lie to me or put me in harms way unless our country needed me to be put their. Christ! Was I wrong! I spent several days in Da Nang and when I went off the base I was shocked by the look of hatred in the eyes of the locals. I was apalled by how many amputees there were walking(?) around. I was no hero and my experience there still haunts me. No, not everyone who serves is a hero. It is easy for those folks who haven’t been there to call every soldier a hero, most are not!
Hero:
1) In mythology and legend, a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favored by the gods.
2) A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.
3) A person noted for special achievement in a particular field: the heroes of medicine.
4) The principal male character in a novel, poem, or dramatic presentation.
(Definitions courtesy of answers.com)
Do any of these definitions fit every US soldier?
Come on, folks. Open your dictionaries. When
everyone is described as a ‘hero’, then you’ve just
totally trashed the meaning of the word.
PS - I forgot to mention the most important observation: Wittgenstein said that to understand
what a word means, just look at what it is used for.
In the government’s hands, this word is now being used, not in its dictionary sense, but to paint a bunch of people who are using high tech weapons to murder mostly unarmed civilians by the hundreds of thousands as the ‘good guys’.
“Heros” The question is how did you find yourself in the stitutation, where you called upon to perform the “heroic act. To save a life at the risk of your own is heroic, to stand and tell the the truth, if the face of ridicule is heroic.
Using this criterion how many of us are heros, sung or unsung?
Fred Wahlstrom
There is nothing heroic about merely being a member of the armed forces. I did 21 years in combat arms because I was physically capable and wanted to do it and not because I was a hero.
There are selfless, brave people in the army and marines, I knew a few. There are also thugs, cowards and thieves just like anywhere else. Your average number of bootlickers,and kick down suck up types as well.
Also it is an all volunteer force now or supposed to be. Many are there for the retirement and the paycheck which for many is better than they could do anywhere else. There are also quite a few lazy timeservers.
I don’t think anyone in good conscience can be in the armed forces today.
Thanks for the discussion on heroism. I suggest that we separate the motives of those who got us into the Iraq War with those who serve in it. Because the actions of MANY troops can be seen as heroic.
Notice that I said “many,” not “all.” Many of those deployed meet the criteria of hero by a) displaying feats of courage and b) nobility of purpose. Troops have, without question, placed their lives in danger. So what we’re really talking about here is nobility of purpose. Heroism comes from the idea that one is contributing to “something bigger than oneself,” said mythology master Joseph Campbell. Many soldiers in Iraq definitely have this sense, or DID have as they relied upon the word of their Commander-in-Chief. Whether or not I shared their trust or viewpoint has little bearing.
The same goes for those who oppose the war effort. The allegiance of oppositionists has been viciously attacked, if not their physical safety. In response, these dissenting voices have shown uncommon courage and persistence in their defence of freedom of speech, a right traditionally prized in America.
I agree that NOT everyone involved with the Iraq War is a hero. Heroism, in general, is a term bandied about much too loosely. But heroism can arise from unheroic conditions. We’ve seen it happen in times of natural catastophe … and man-made.